Matilda, so cute!
I have been reading Michelle Sagara's Elantra novels--I got the first three bundled for Kindle from Amazon. I think Betsy might have recommended them.
And ... they are pissing me off. There's an interesting story there, and some cool world-building, but the prose is enraging me. It's so intentionally underwritten! Reads like a particular kind of fic, that stuff which is really allusive and spare, forcing the reader to pay really close attention and remember all the characters' histories and agendas in order to get the plot-related and emotional impact of the dialogue.
And seriously? I'm not willing to work that hard. Throw me a bone, dude. Don't treat me like I'm already invested, you gotta do some work up front, and she doesn't.
Also, I checked on Goodreads, and apparently six books in, the lead character hasn't actually developed much farther and still hasn't committed to any of her potential lovers.
Feh on that. I'm not wading through six volumes to discover that only four months have gone by and the character still refuses to learn or grow.
Good Omens is a much more fun read.
The book was my commuter-read this week and I had tough time staunching off the giggles several times.
They had me by the cast of character page, esp. at "Crowley (An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards)."
I had tough time staunching off the giggles several times.
Yeah, I admit that I don't see a lot of Gaiman in Good Omens: it feels like mostly Pratchett to me.
The Adam/Them chapters felt Gaimanesque to me, especially the ending. Crowley and Aziraphale are pure Pratchett.
I seem to recall that a lot of the stuff I thought was Pratchett turned out to be Gaiman.
Initially, I did most of Adam and the Them and Neil did most of the Four Horsemen, and everything else kind of got done by whoever – by the end, large sections were being done by a composite creature called Terryandneil, whoever was actually hitting the keys. By agreement, I am allowed to say that Agnes Nutter, her life and death, was completely and utterly mine. And Neil proudly claims responsibility for the maggots. Neil's had a major influence on the opening scenes, me on the ending. In the end, it was this book done by two guys, who shared the money equally and did it for fun and wouldn't do it again for a big clock."[
Isn't today Dr. Seuss's birthday? Happy Birthday!
Isn't today Dr. Seuss's birthday? Happy Birthday!
Aw, you think Google would have done something with the banner for that. Maybe it needs to be a significant birthday number?
Speaking of Pratchett, despite reading The Wee Free Men (which I LOVED!), I still know nothing about Discworld, but I keep hearing that I need to read it or my nerd card will be taken away. So, where should I start? At the beginning? (which I just realized I don't even know what that is). Guards, Guards? (That's one I keep hearing mentioned.) Continue on with Tiffany Aching and then go back to the beginning?
Rayne, there are various sub-series within Discworld, although most of them include characters which appear in other series as well. All of the books are pretty much free-standing, plot-wise, although as you progress you'll see the characters grow and change.
The order you read them in depends on what you like: crime stories, go for the City Watch sequence, starting with Guards, Guard; fairy tales, go for the Lancre Witches, starting with Weird Sisters (I don't think Equal Rites is as good); metaphysics and the nature of reality, go for the Death books, starting with Mort or Reaper Man.
Tiffany Aching is most closely associated with the Lancre Witches sequence, but hers stand pretty well on their own. And they're wonderful.
Woops, here's a good reference:
[link]
